Whole Orange and Chocolate Cake Recipe

I've been submitting savoury, main course and snack recipes for a while now — so it's time to add a recipe for a cake, particularly as it's almost Easter.

This cake is unusual, as it's base is a whole orange that's cooked until tender before being added to the cake batter.

Whole Orange and Chocolate Cake

Serves: 12

Ingredients:

175g (6 oz) butter, softened
1 small orange (about 200g [8 oz])
100g (4 oz) self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
2 tbsp cocoa powder
100g (4 oz) ground almonds
175g (6 oz) light muscovado sugar
4 eggs, separated

Method:

Place the orange in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, partly covered, for 60 minutes, or until completely tender. Drain the orange then set aside to cool.

Halve the orange and remove all the pips. Chop finely (do not peel) then place in a food processor and pulse to a smooth purée.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, spices and cocoa powder in a bowl then stir in the ground almonds.

In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and the puréed orange then fold in the flour mix.

Add the egg whites to a clean and dry bowl and whisk until stiff. Fold these into the cake batter, adding them in tow batches.

Pour the batter into a 23cm diameter cake tin that's been buttered and lined. Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180ºC (350ºF, Gas Mark 4) and bake for about 40 minutes, or until firm and slightly golden on top.

Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.